THUNDER BAY – Although overall rates for crime in Thunder Bay are on the decline, the number of domestic violence incidents has double in the past several years.
According to Snapshot in Time, a report identifying the risk factors for crime and victimization in Thunder Bay, the number of domestic violence incidents in Thunder Bay has more than double in 12 years.
Crime Prevention Council coordinator Lee-Ann Chevrette said the city has the highest rates of domestic violence incidents in the country.
“We have the data for what is being reported, but we know that rates of reporting are actually lower than the actual incidents,” Chevrette said.
“We need to implement initiatives to increase reporting rates in Thunder Bay, so that we actually have a picture of what’s happening in our community.”
In 2009, the General Social Survey on Victimization reported less than 30 per cent of female victims indicated the incident of spousal victimization was reported to police.
There are a number of organizations and agencies working to address the issue of gender-based violence, not only in Thunder Bay but municipalities across the country as well.
The Crime Prevention Council is currently working with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit and the Drug Strategy on a violent prevention initiative.
Chevrette said this is one of the first steps to the development of what will be a violence prevention initiative.
“This is something we’ve been working on for the past (six months) with a researcher at Lakehead University,” she said.
“We are looking at the different forms of violence happening in the community, where the violence is happening, some of the barriers to reporting violence, and then we are coming up with some recommendations based on the research we’ve done to address this.”
Chevrette said despite Thunder Bay having the highest rates of domestic violence in the city, overall rates for violent, property and youth crime have been on a downward trend since 1998.
“The rates of crime overtime are declining, but those rates are still among some of the highest in all of Canada,” she said.
“We need to keep doing the work that we are doing through the crime prevention council and all of the other social develop initiatives in the community to continue to address the risk factors of crime and victimization in the city, so that people feel safe.”
Chevrette believes community safety and crime prevention is a community effort, it is a collective effort, and we all need to play a role in keeping it safe.
